Growing up, the Jensen family lived by one simple motto: “Never quit.” Clearly, the two-word mantra had an enormous impact on the four Jensen children as they all went on to play tennis at the professional level. Luke and Murphy most notably won the French Open doubles title in 1993, while Rebecca won an NCAA doubles title with the Kansas Jayhawks and Rachel competed on the WTA World Tour.
Since becoming a Grand Slam champion, Luke has continued to make his presence known in the tennis world. After retiring from professional tennis, he has acted as an analyst for ESPN, served a seven-year stint as the head coach of the Syracuse University women’s tennis team, and has conducted singles and doubles clinics across the country for players of all ages and abilities. Today, he is settled in as the Director of Racquet Sports at the prestigious West Side Tennis Club in addition to his involvement with the Jensen-Schmidt Tennis Academy for Down Syndrome.
However, Jensen acknowledges that he could not have achieved the level of success that he has without a little help along the way, specifically from his mother. “I would say she was the heartbeat of everything we did,” said Jensen. “She wanted to give her children the opportunity to go wherever they wanted to go in both athletics and academics since she wasn’t able to play at the next level due to the absence of Title IX when she was growing up.”
Patricia Jensen certainly did everything in her power to help her children succeed. She was not only a mentor, driver, and scheduler for all four of the Jensen siblings, but she also instilled in them the three traits that she credits with their unprecedented success in tennis and beyond – work ethic, discipline, and integrity.
According to Patricia, the Jensen family never spoke specifically about playing at the professional level. Yet, they would always push a little harder with each victory. “One summer, I drove 90,000 miles across the country to get all four of my children to each of their tournaments,” she recounted. That same sacrifice and selflessness is what inspired Luke to achieve excellence each and every day.
“My mom was always focused on our attitude and our effort,” Luke recalled. “That was more important than any forehand or backhand in my personal development – teaching the commitment, the effort level, and what it takes to be the best you can be. It wasn’t about winning Wimbledon or prize money, it was about maximizing your gift and your potential.”
While Luke was growing up, Patricia would bring him to the gymnastics gym where she coached her team to an overall record of 326-3. She credits her children’s understanding of preparation for competition to their exposure to the work ethic of her gymnasts. Achievement and success was something that they lived each and every day.
Patricia’s assessment is spot on. Now as a coach, Luke takes inspiration from his mother’s leadership abilities. “When I would watch her teams practice and watch her teams compete, there was definitely a line of perfection she would reach for. When she was coaching her gymnasts, she had a very disciplined approach, and I think that really influenced me as an athlete, as a student, and later on as a coach,” he said.
When looking back on winning the Grand Slam title alongside his brother Murphy, Luke recalls feeling pride in the fact that the victory was a family accomplishment. “To come from a very small town of 8,000 people on the shores of Lake Michigan and to be holding one of the biggest trophies in our sport was such an accomplishment,” he expressed. “I knew every swing, every step, every sacrifice that my parents and siblings made to win a Grand Slam title was worth it.”
The impact of the title still resonates with Luke on a day to day basis, particularly throughout his coaching career. According to Luke, perspective is the number-one lesson he’s taken into coaching. “When you’ve competed for something of that magnitude, you understand truly what it takes. You truly understand the support system and the confidence that you have to instill into your students.”
Making a positive contribution to other players’ lives is what inspired Luke to take on the women’s head coaching position at Syracuse University. “I think anyone who wants to coach feels that they can make a difference. I felt the collegiate level was perfect for me because of the balance between academics and athletics. If you don’t make it on the pro circuit, you have your degree to fall back on,” he said. “It’s all about how you communicate a message to your student-athletes. It’s how you can get the most out of them emotionally, get them to believe in themselves, get them to find that next level of effort and commitment, and get them to truly love what they do.”
Luke believes that one of the most valuable lessons that he learned at Syracuse was the importance of understanding players and truly listening to them. Every win and every loss was a lesson on how to improve and understand the players more.
When asked about his coaching philosophy, Luke expressed the importance of listening to players, rather than talking at them. “I would sit down and just take notes. I’d ask them to tell me about their favorite color, their favorite number, their best friend. You learn so much” he recalled. “We’d be in the middle of a dogfight with the match on the line, and we’d talk about things that would help them relax. Sometimes all you need is that connection to let them breathe, relax, and to keep things in perspective.”
Forming that connection demonstrates Luke’s commitment to empowering his female athletes. He also is determined to help them find their voice as both athletes and individuals. “My job was to drive them, push them, get them to reach for more, to inspire them,” Luke stated. “It only works if they meet me halfway. I just wanted to make sure that they owned it. I did this by empowering them, letting them have their voice.”
Letting players find their voice is vitally important, especially at a highly competitive level. Luke spoke on the importance of loving the entire process, a lesson that he learned from his parents. “I watched them lead and inspire people through sports,” said Luke. “Everything was about having fun, just making an effort that’s positive, encouraging. Anytime I step on the court, I think of my parents and how they inspired others.”
Often times, there seems to be a disconnect between competition and fun. One principle that Luke abides by through his coaching clinics and his role at the West Side Tennis Clinic is allowing players to have fun. “Obviously, you want to win, but there’s a fun aspect of being challenged,” he said. “One of my missions is to make sure that tennis players at every level are having fun playing this game – winning or losing. I don’t want you to like losing, but you better have fun while you’re out there or you’re missing the point.”
Above all else, Luke believes that listening is the key to success, a trait that he also picked up from Patricia. “She was very tough on her student-athletes, but she cared deeply. She would always listen to her student-athletes,” he recounted. I think the more you can listen, the more you can learn about them. Then you can start forming a battle plan for success.”
If you ask Patricia, Luke’s love of the game and his fierce determination to help each player achieve to their utmost potential is what sets him apart as a coach. When hearing this, you cannot help but think back to that gymnasium in Michigan where Luke first learned to “never quit.”